Free PH02 - Do Not Disturb by Kate Kingsbury Page A

do? How am I going to show me face after this bloody lot?”
    “Mrs. Parmentier would never breathe a word of this, I’m sure of it.”
    Gertie lowered her hands and gave Mrs. Chubb a look that indicated her disbelief in the widow’s integrity on that point.
    “Anyway,” Mrs. Chubb went on, “it wasn’t as bad as you think. She wrapped a towel around you as she dragged you out, though heaven knows how she managed to do that. She must be as strong as an ox, that woman.”
    Gertie groaned again. “Well, just don’t ask me to take any more trays up to her. I’ll never be able to look her in the face again.”
    “You can’t see her face anyhow behind that veil,” Mrs. Chubb pointed out, a fact that apparently failed to comfort Gertie.
    “I think I’m going to be sick again,” she said, and rushed to the sink where, much to Mrs. Chubb’s dismay, she fulfilled her prophecy.
    As soon as Cecily returned to the hotel, she sent word to Baxter’s office that she wanted to see him in the library. He arrived shortly after, looking somewhat agitated.
    She settled into her seat at the end of the table, and watched him pass the palm of his hand over his thick, dark hair. It was a habit she knew well. He always did that when he was disturbed about something.
    His sideburns seemed to have turned gray overnight. She wondered when that had happened and why she hadn’t noticed it before.
    “I thought you’d like to know,” she said, coming straight to the point, “Madeline did not sell a potion to Colin Bickley, and since he definitely consumed something after he left her cottage, even if it was only ale, I feel a little easier in my mind. Obviously he couldn’t have been poisoned by the meal she served him, since she ate it herself.”

    “We have only her word for that.” He stood just inside the door, as usual, looking as if he wanted to run out any second.
    Cecily looked at him in surprise. “I hope you’re not suggesting that Madeline lied to me.”
    “I’m not suggesting anything, madam.” He shifted his gaze above her head. “I’m merely pointing out the questions the police will most likely raise.”
    Cecily felt a twinge of apprehension. “You believe they’ll be brought in on this?”
    “I think it’s inevitable, given the circumstances.”
    She sighed heavily and gazed up at James’s portrait. “What are we coming to, Baxter? First that terrible episode this summer with the deaths of two women right here in this hotel, and now this.”
    “The price of progress, madam. Even Badgers End can’t stay excluded from the ways of the modern world forever, I’m sad to say.”
    Usually she would enter into a spirited argument with him on that subject, but her concern over this latest incident subdued her.
    “I don’t think you should worry too much, madam, until the results of the postmortem are known,” Baxter added. “I understand Dr. McDuff is conducting the examination right now. No doubt he will ascertain the cause of the poisoning, which might very well clear Miss Pengrath of any suspicion.”
    Cecily nodded slowly. “I hope you’re right, Baxter. I do hope you are right. But Madeline isn’t my only cause of worry. This fight between Ian and Mr. Bickley could put Ian in a very uncomfortable position.”
    “True. But I still maintain that we must wait for the result of the postmortem before jumping to any conclusions.”
    She looked back at him and found him watching her. The concern on his face touched her, and she smiled. “You are right, of course, Baxter. I am most likely worrying about nothing.”
    When he failed to return her smile, she again felt amoment’s anxiety. “I see that the plumber has taken care of the problems in the bathrooms,” she said in an effort to change the subject. “I’m sure our guests are delighted about that. Not to mention the maids. Emptying chamber pots is a task they’ve become unaccustomed to in this modern age.”
    She hadn’t been able to resist